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2018 Tesla Model 3 Pros and Cons at TrueDelta: Terrible Experience, Tesla Doesn't Care by markjansen

A member in California, United States

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Reviewed: 2018 Tesla Model 3

4dr Sedan 258-horsepower Electric 1-speed automatic RWD

Why the 2018 Tesla Model 3?

Handling

It's really a fun car to drive, with good steering feedback. It feels solid on the road, with a very low center of gravity. Actually more fun to drive than I expected!

Why Not the 2018 Tesla Model 3?

Reliability & durability

The worst new-car experience I've ever had, without a doubt. The car spent three of the first four months of ownership sitting at a service center. The car was delivered with obvious defects (and I do mean "delivered," not only did the car leave the factory with defects but someone drove it on the highway to my house that way). Tesla has failed at every turn to fix the problems or make me a happy customer. They are completely unprepared to service and support the number of cars they're selling.

Insurance cost

Very expensive to insure, much more so than comparable "conventional" cars. Factor that into your overall costs of ownership.

Conclusion

*If* you get a good sample, you'll probably like it.

When you have trouble, Tesla's incapable of providing high-quality support.

And don't forget: it's not like other cars, where you can go to an independent shop. It's Tesla or no one.

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Response from spiked

5:28 pm January 22, 2021

I guess we got one of the good ones (it seems the 2019+ model 3's have much improved reliability). Our 2019 SR+ had one issue a couple of months after purchase - it self reported a problem with the Power Conversion unit, automatically ordered the part, and I took it in for an overnight repair (Raleigh SC gave me a model S loaner). Since then, nada - not a single problem after nearly 2 years. The most reliable car I've ever owned. And a blast to drive! Also, insurance is very reasonable for this car in NC.

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Response from MarkMiller

10:26 pm July 15, 2021

Most people have "one of the good ones". These reviews are populated by fake Tesla owners who write fake Tesla reviews. Never under-estimate the disruption that is Tesla. The haters will try to slow them down by lying about the cars but once you inspect and drive one you will see all the negative reviews are just a pile of lies.

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Response from shweetpickens

10:06 am January 27, 2022

I'm not sure a two year old car with no problems is a good gauge of reliability. Report back after 5 years of ownership. id especially like to hear how one does up to and past 100,000 miles.

I've talked to people that own teslas, and I just heard a story similar to this one last week. Remember there are owners of German cars out there that swear they've had zero problems in 300,000 miles. I'm not interested in one experience as much as I am in the majority.

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Response from Michael London

1:12 am June 28, 2022

My Tesla Model Y is now 18 months old.

What has gone wrong with it? Let me think a while. Nothing.

It now has crossed 34,000 on the odometer. Nothing has been changed out or repaired.

On May 29, my wife and dog and I took off for a 4000 mile road trip. What did I need to do to get the car ready for that? I pumped up the tires.

My average consumption of electrical energy per mile with all travel included has been 280 watt hours per mile. That is about 3.4 miles per kilowatt hour. My home Tesla Wall Charger delivers 45 miles of range added per hour of charging. My cost per kwh at home is about 15 cents, so a bit over 4 cents a mile.

On the road trip (Austin-California-Washington-Montana-Wyoming-New Mexico-El Paso-Austin) I used Tesla Superchargers all the way. Planned each stop for recharge, motel, sightseeing, or whatever we needed to do. My target distance was a range of 130 to 150 miles between charges. I would charge it up to about 280 miles of range, run 70-80 mph, (my wife's minimum is about 84 mph and sometimes 90!) and by the next planned recharge, we would be down to about 40 to 80 miles of range left. Charging would usually take about 25 - 30 minutes and Tesla charged my account about 12 cents for each mile added.

Now that we are back home from the trip, there is nothing to do to the car. My tires have only been rotated once long ago, and the tread is still good in my estimation for maybe another 15 or 20 thousand miles.

Just looking at used Teslas like mine, I see asking prices well above what I paid in Dec 2020.

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